You need to obtain copies of the deeds to determine exactly what you own before negotiating with the prospective purchaser. Leasing rights can be separated from the minerals, most commonly when the owner X sells a portion (such as 1/2 minerals) of minerals to buyer Y and X retains the right to lease the minerals sold to Y. This is not the same as a traditional NPRI. Y’s minerals are under the lease terms as signed by X and Y is entitled to see the lease. So you need to look at the deeds to see how the minerals have been assigned over time. For example, did X sell surface and 1/2 minerals to Y, but retained the leasing rights? Then did X sell the remaining 1/2 minerals to Z, but retained the leasing rights. Then X (you) have the leasing rights. Ask the O&G company for the deeds to prove that you only own leasing rights and not any minerals. Read the original deed creating the leasing rights carefully as the seller X may have also retained the lease bonus or other rights. You also want to figure out if the O&G company owns 100% or only a portion of the minerals which were owned by a relative. Also, if the minerals have been subdivided into multiple owners, then you might control leasing rights for a lot of mineral owners. Is the O&G company the future operator or only going to lease out to a 3rd party operator? You have to gather a lot of information before you can value the leasing rights.
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